Despite Our Differences
by Omen657
Summary: What happens when your father is Cobra Commander and you lead a normal life without knowing his evil? What happens when you work for his enemy and falls in love with there silent ninja?...SnakeEyes/OC
1. Newbie and Introductions

**OK guys, this is a re-edit and the last one for it. My Oc's name has been changed due to people complaining that it needs to be a name of her job. Which some of the Joes name have nothing to do with their job, like Snake Eye's. His name has nothing to do with his job.**

**I don't own any part of G.I. Joe or any of its characters...but if I did, Snake Eyes would be helping me write this. I do own any Oc's or random people or things in the story.**

**Thoughts will be in **_Italic and underlined__..._**and Sign Language and things written on paper will be in **_**Bold and Italic.**_

**Please enjoy the new version, cheers.**

* * *

I was standing next to General Hawk as we descended on a large metal platform into the Pit. I had just been offered to join the G.I. Joe division, Alpha Team, after the military gave me an evaluation test after my recent mission with my old team in the Spec Op's. My team and I were to get in and get out, a recon only mission, to observe and report but of course things like that always go wrong. Half way into the mission, we had to abort do to one of the newest rookies getting trigger happy, causing us to go into a massive firefight with the enemy and sadly enough, it was only the rookie who had gotten killed.

Me being in my second year on the team and being a sniper along with great combat skills, I knew how to run the team and was able us out of the hot zone while still getting the info we needed and eliminating the enemy. With only a few of us being slightly wounded, the only tragedy was that the rookie had ran ahead of us and was gunned down, then once it was safe enough, we rushed over and carried his body the whole way to our pick up point so we could bring him home and give him a honorable burial.

When my superiors looked over my results and mission report, I knew they had agreed on something and started to make calls. Soon the decision was made that I would be sent to G.I. Joe HQ, their General thinking I would be a good adaptation to his team, the best of the best, the top dogs of the military. Then several weeks later, I was on a plane to a private base where another plane would take me to next and final destination, the Pit.

"So, this is the Pit…the Joes HQ?" I questioned out loud to myself but also to General Hawk, stepping off the lift when it stopped. I looked around at the all of the different areas there were to offer for training that I could see; the place looked like it could hold an entire civilization and possibly more.

General Hawk gave me a nod and still looked ahead as we walked, entering what looked like the housing section of the base. "This is where we house the Joes, Alpha Team's apartments are floor above us. This is where you will live until your training is done, to see if you can earn your stripes as an Alpha Joe," he said as he turned towards me. "You will have to train twice as hard as you ever did for any other training you have done. Now, I hear and have read that you have a few extra things under belt, I hope to see you in action," he said nonchalantly then turned back around, entering a code into a small panel next to the door. "All apartments require a code, learn this well,"he gave me a small piece of paper with numbers on it then opened the door and walked in, I walked in after with my bags.

"Nice place," I looked around, stepping up on the small three step stairs that lead into living room. Off to my right, I can see a cozy sized kitchen and two doors. On my left, I saw another door as I walked into the room more, nodding my head in approval. The apartment was also furnished in basic furniture such as a basic couch, coffee table, TV, TV stand, dinning table and kitchen appliances. The bedroom and bathroom also had basic things as well. _Going to have to spruce this place up a bit and some of my own stuff in here, maybe my bed from home_, thinking of my bed from home made me want to go to sleep since the thing was so soft it felt like you would disappear into the mattress.

"The two doors next to the kitchen is your bedroom and a pantry. The door on your left is a larger closet for extra bedding and hygienic supplies," he said and stood there as I walked around. "You may also have things shipped here from your other apartment back in the states, decorate it how ever you want," he walked back to the door as I sat my bags on the uncomfortable looking couch then followed him out, closing the door behind me.

"So where is this Alpha Team that I am supposed to be joining?"I asked as I followed beside him, looking around everything as we walked at a decent pace down the hallway.

"In the Recreational Room which is a floor up. Oh, I would advise you to not move anything into your room just yet, that way when you get your stripes, you can move up to the Alpha's floor. All the rooms are laid out the same way only a bit larger," he said and motioned for us to keep walking down the hall. We soon arrived at the Rec. Room and entered, a big burly man announced General Hawk's entrance and the Alpha Team stood at attention.

"At ease Joes…" he told them as he put his hands on his hips, surveying his top team I stood behind him. "You all did a job well done on your last mission with Cobra," he said to all of them with a little smile on his face. "Onto other business, you all know we are getting more recruits for G.I. Joe since the Cobra ordeal….so, I would like you all to meet Jade," he moved aside so they could see me better as I stepped up, and saluted them. A small smile formed on my lips.

"Mm….she fine," Ripcord said to Duke who then elbowed his friend hard in the shoulder.

"Do I need to remind you that your dating Scarlet now? Or do you I need to beat it into you? Again." Duke asked then walked up to me with a small smile.

"I'm Duke," he shook my hand in a firm welcoming grip and I shook his hand back with the same firmness. "That's Ripcord over there….and sorry about him, he likes to flirt with anythingthat has boobs and legs he see's," he gave me a little off hand humor comment and chuckled a little, Ripcord was rubbing his shoulder where Duke elbowed him. "But don't worry, he's harmless unless you get the good part of his jokes, then you might die of laughter," I laughed at his little joke.

A large black burly man walked up to me with a tenderhearted smile upon his face. "I'm Heavy Duty….and welcome to the Pit," he had a deep English accent and a very strong grip as he shook my hand which seemed to disappear into his. "Don't be a stranger around the Rec just because you ain't an Alpha yet," he said with a smile, then a small little geeky guy came over.

"Hi, I'm Breaker, the technician of the team. I read your file, you seem to be okay with computers. I hope to see your talent, maybe teach you a thing or two," he said happily as he shook my hand.

After the encounters with the four men, a bright red headed woman came up to greet me as well and behind her was a man dressed in all black along with a visor where is eyes would be. "I'm Scarlet and this is Snake Eyes," she said to me with a small smile while Snake Eyes gave me a small nodded as if to say 'Hi' and I gave a nodded back. _Cool, a ninja!...they have their own ninja. Epicness!_

"It is nice to meet all of you…..hopefully I will be lucky enough to get on the team after I do my tests and training,"I told everyone with respect and with a small smile, trying to make a good first impression.

"Well as any other Joe, Jade, you have to earn your stripes like everyone else so…Heavy Duty, Scarlet, you two know what to do for the newbie's," General Hawk said as he gave a joking smile to me while he laughed and patted my back. "Well, I'll leave you to get better acquainted with the team," he told me then saluted and left to go do his other duties.

.~:*:~.

It had been close to almost four months since I had arrived at the GI Joe base now, 'The Pit' as everyone else called it, and met my new team. I had already done most of the training Heavy Duty and Scarlet put me through and now I was getting close to being done with Snake Eyes' training, who taught me martial arts, but I had already known a few martial arts skills so all it did was improve them. I had one more week before I would get my results back for the training tests, though I still had more training to do with Snake Eyes and everything had already started taking its toll on me but that last little week went by in a flash.

I had just finished my training with Heavy Duty and Scarlet and was making my way to the Rec room to rest for a while before anyone else needed me for something. Ever since I started my training with the Alpha Team, I wasn't getting my sleep at night due to Hawk giving me a security night shifts so I had something other than training to do. When I arrived at the Rec. room, I laid down on one of the couches located in front of the big screen T.V., sighing in relaxation at how comfortable the couch was as soon as I laid down and my head hit the couch pillow.

Several minutes after I had laid down and got comfortable, the Team walked in and I stirred after hearing Ripcords laugh that annoyed me to no end on my bad days, along with his obnoxious and lame jokes. I sat up tiredly and yawned while rubbing the sleep from my eyes like a child who just woke up.

"Well, look at who it is…it's the hot new member of the team," Ripcord said out loud but jokingly while he came over to me and sat down rather closely, making the cushion squish further down. After saying his obnoxious comment and hearing his laugh, everyone looked to see what the commotion was, Scarlet not looking to happy from Rip's comment.

"Go away Ripcord," I said to him with an exhausted tone in my voice as I pushed him to the other side of the couch, I wasn't in the mood to hear his lame jokes and deal with how annoying he was considering at how tired I was. _Why can't he just leave me alone and let me rest? He could at least go bother Duke or Scarlet. She is his girlfriend after all_, I thought to myself as I sat there tiredly.

"Aw, come on Jade," he said teasingly and moved back to his original spot and slung his arm around my shoulders. "You have to lighten up, have some fun and laugh a little,"he gave me a small shake of my shoulders to get me to laugh but all I did was stare up at him with a not so amused face.

"Watch it Rip, she may kick you again,"Duke mentioned and chuckled as he headed over to go bench a few weights and when he said that, Rip moved away from me a little and moved a hand slowly over his crotch.

I gave him a tired but evil smile which made him laugh because it looked funny and I groaned at the fact my glaring tactics weren't working. "You suck..."I got up and walked over towards the door then stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Snake Eyes, he gave my shoulder a small squeeze then started to sign slowly in ASL since I didn't know that much and was currently taking lessons from him.

"_**You okay? You don't look well and have been in a bad mood for the past few weeks,"**_he tilted his head to the side for a few moments then started to sign again. "_**Have you been sleeping well?**_"

_Damn him and his ninja-ness_, I thought to myself and sighed a little. "I'm fine, really. Please don't worry about it to much,"I told him tiredly and gave him a weak smile.

He stood there for a few moments before nodding his head slowly. _**"Try to get more sleep, you looked more tired than usual,"**_he patted my shoulder and went to his little corner to meditate and watched me leave the Rec room to my quarters.

Everyone saw me and Snake Eyes' brief exchange then looked over at Snake Eyes. "What was that all about, Snake?"Breaker asked as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"_**Nothing really. I noticed that she has been more moody than usual and has gained bags under her eyes. I was merely concerned that she wasn't getting enough sleep between her training and a few other things Hawk was having her do,**_"he told his fellow Joe and everyone seemed to agree that there had been a change in her.

As I headed to my room to get some sleep, I looked at my watch and groaned when I noticed that I had five minutes till the night shift that Hawk wanted me to do tonight, which I was not looking forwards to. Sighing heavily, I made my way to a computer/surveillance room where my shift was going to be and sat down as the daytime security guard left.

"This is going to be a long night," I said to myself, aloud and rubbing my eyes as I sat back in the chair and looked at the monitors in front of me.

.~:*:~.

Hours passed by and I was fighting to stay awake when I heard a knock at the door and saw Scarlet walk in with a two hot cups of coffee in her hands.

"Here you go…I thought you would need something with caffeine it," Scarlet told me as she handed me a mug of the hot caffeinated drink while she sat down in a chair next to me.

I took the cup of coffee gratefully and took a sip small sip so I wouldn't burn my mouth. "Mmm…thanks, I needed that," I set the cup down in front of me on the desk as I looked back up at the many screens in front of me. "So what brings you here at this fine hour of the night or should I say the wee hours of this morning?" I asked Scarlet jokingly as I typed a few things into the computer to let some of the regular Joes into Section 6 of the base then sat back, taking the hot mug in hand carefully.

"Thought I'd swing by and see if you were still awake, seeing at how tired you have been for almost the past few weeks. I honestly thought I'd find you sleeping on the job," Scarlet said and laughed at the funny little joke. "So what was the deal between you two?" she asked me as she leaned back in the seat and looked at the screen, taking a few sips at her own coffee.

"Who two?" I asked her as she took another sip of her coffee while I typed a few confirmation codes to let in a few of the transport planes. "I mean-"

"You know, you and Snake Eyes," She cut me off. "the 'conversation' you had with him before you left the Rec. room hours ago," Scarlet noted and nudged me with her elbow as she looked over at me out of the corner of her eye, I just shrugged, not really catching what she was getting at. "Come on, everyone could tell something happened," she said teasingly.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I looked over at her. "He was worried that I wasn't getting enough sleep. Nothing more, nothing less than that. Why do you ask anyway? Your acting as if there should be more than that,"I stated to Scarlet then took a sip of my coffee.

"Oh, well first of all, you do over work yourself to the point of exhaustion," Scarlet looked over at me then fully faced me, I gave a half-hearted chuckle. "And as for the last question. You two seemed to have gotten close over the past four months that you have been here,"she said and looked down into her mug.

"No, no, no. You and Heavy Duty over work me before I have my occasional night shifts and Snake and I have a lot in common, plus he's teaching me ASL and giving me a few personal training sessions to improve my fighting skills,"I raised an eyebrow at Scarlet, now getting what she was implying. "And I see what your getting at my friend and the answer is no, we are not dating,"I sighed and laughed a little.

"Sorry, its just all the signs are there. My bad for assuming,"she gave a small apologetic smile to me.

"Its fine. Now back to other things, with the training you two have been giving me, I haven't been able to get a descents night sleep before or after my shift," my tone was jokingly but had a hint steel behind my words, almost stern-like.

"Well, you need the training and experience, without it you won't be able to get one the team or be a Joe," she told me flatly and simply, I sighed and nodded in agreement. "Look at it this way, beginning tomorrow you'll just have your night shifts and some other of the side training with Snakes, then General Hawk will look at your results and see if your fit to be a Joe and be on the team with us," Scarlet told me reassuringly to lighten my spirit. She also wiggled her eyebrows when she mentioned the part with Snake Eyes.

"Oh, would you stop it already. There is nothing like that going on between us,"I hit her shoulder lightly in a joking manner and we both started to laugh. "But I guess your right and hopefully I'll be able to sleep more and kick your butt at the accuracy tests," I said and gave her shoulder a confident nudge.

"In your dreams, Jade. I'm the best at it and still hold the top score and fastest time,"she said in a confident tone and smiled as she took a sip of her coffee, I rolled my eyes and did the same as I looked back at the screens.

"I can just have Rip kidnap you to a romantic place in Rome and have Breaker hack the systems, change the scores around a little,"I whispered and she hit my arm as we both laughed, watching the surveillance screens and having a good time.

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**I would love it if you all could help me figure out a codename for Jade. I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of info to hint at a name but a few good starter names would be appreciated to start a vote.**

**Thank you, Please push the Review button...pretty please.**


	2. Intruder Part 1

**Another re-edit but this whole story will be going through one, well the chapters I have at least. I'm sorry for how long its been since my last update and that this story is taking so long to move forwards, BUT, hopefully I can get a move on with this. I'm currently in college right now and things have been really slow on my end and very crowded.**

**I don't own any part of G.I. Joe or any of its characters...but if I did, Snake Eyes would be helping me write this. I do own any Oc's or random people or things in the story.**

**Thoughts will be in **_Italic and underlined__..._**and Sign Language and things written on paper will be in **_**Bold and Italic.**_

**Please enjoy the new version, cheers.**

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Scarlet and my little time together in the security room and General Hawk had my results from my training and tests. General Hawk had chosen me because of my ability to adapt to my surroundings and how quick of a learner I was. He had read from previous reports that I had been to several places in the world such as Japan and Chine and that I had decent skills in martial arts.

Mean while, I was in the middle of training with Snake Eyes while Beach Head and some of the regular Joes watched us as if it were a show. Ever since I started my training with Snake Eyes, I had learned a great deal from what he knew. He taught me things ranging from martial art offensive and defensive forms to combat weapons such as swords and nun-chucks as well as my favorite, shurikens.

Now, Snake eyes was training me with what looked like Bo staff but they were military based with shock pads on the ends. We both spun the staffs in our hands to get a feel for it before we would start, then without warning, I somewhat lunged and strike at Snake Eyes but he expertly blocked my attack

.~:*:~.

Snake Eyes bobbed and weaved around my attacks, studying my pattern so that after, he could point out my weaknesses in my form. Caught up in the moment of studying me, he had to dodge a hit to his chest that almost hit him then quickly roll away to avoid getting hit in the legs. He put his sword up in a defensive position as he kept a watchful eye on me. He focused how I moved my feet and the way I moved, you could always tell some ones next move by the way they move, then that all reminded him of something, back in his training days with Storm Shadow, he had moved almost the same way as me.

I saw that Snake Eyes was distracted by something and took that as an advantage. I started to strike at him again but he was a little too late to defend himself so he tried to back up but I spun around and kicked him in the chest, Snake Eyes fell back onto the ground with a small 'oof'.

He looked up at me as he panted a little, extending my hand out to help him and he gratefully took my hand and stood. "Good fight," I said with a small smile, he gave a slight nodded and bowed to me and I bowed back.

Heavy Duty laughed a little at how Snake Eyes got beat by a girl; he looked down at the computer pad he had in his hand and typed in a few things. "She's a Joe," Beach Head told him then got everyone to go back to what they were doing, all Heavy Duty could do was laugh a little.

"Same time tomorrow for another beating, Snake Eyes?" I asked him with humor in my voice, laughing a little as I put away the Kendo sword. He nodded and gave me a small pat on the shoulder.

"_**You did very well, top of class,"**_he signed to me then bowed, I bowed as well to show respect. "_**Next **__**time you won't be so lucky,"**_he told me and then nudged my playfully as we walked out of the training room and down the hall.

I laughed a little, nudging him back. "See you later,"I said and walked down another hallway to go to my room and rest. As I headed back to my room I sighed happily at how well Snake Eyes and I were getting along. When I got to my room, I smiled a little at the sight of my bed but sleeping would have to wait until after I had a shower which I welcomed gratefully. After my much needed shower, I dressed into a t-shirt and sweat pants then laid down and curled up on my bed and under the covers. Once my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

.~:*:~.

When my alarm clock went off and I shot up thinking it was the alarm going off around the base. Looking down, I saw I had a tight grip on my hand gun that I kept beneath my pillow. "I need to lay off the caffeine," I muttered and forced myself to calm down and let go of the gun. I looked over at the clock, seeing that I had slept for five hours. Sighing, I hit the button to turn the alarm off and slowly and tiredly dragged myself out of bed and started to get dressed for my night shift.

When I was done, I headed to the control room and sat down at my post and started to check everything to make sure it was up and running. Even I was fairly good with working with computers, I hated them to a point, especially when they glitched out or stopped working completely. Pushing those thoughts aside, I focused on my job at hand and typed a few things into the computer to give a few Joes clearance into one of the Sectors, then I sat back and boringly watched the screens. "_This is going to one hell of a long night..."_I sighed, thinking to myself.

A few hours passed until Breaker came in and sat next to me. "Hey…how's it going?" the technician said as he pulled out his laptop. "Good," I responded, Breaker nodded. "So anything happened?, or have you been sitting there contemplating on the next thing you'll do to me when I'm not looking?"he asked.

"Come now Breaker…I'm not that heartless, and besides you were asking for it when you fell asleep," I told him as I laughed a little, my hand over my heart in a meaningful manner.

"Hey...you had no right taking a permanent marker and drawing a mustache on me and eyes on my eyelids," he told me sternly, all I could do was laugh harder.

"You had to admit that it was pretty funny," I told him truthfully, trying to calm down from my laughing fit. He couldn't help but to smile a little but it was in a mocking manner. "And back to your first question…no, nothing has happened yet," Breaker gave a small nodded and turned back to his computer.

"So how's your training coming along? I hear General Hawk almost has all of the results in," he told me and I gave a small shrug, "it's ok." Breaker nodded then looked over at me. "Hey…you look beat, why don't you take tonight off and get some sleep, I'll cover for you," he said and clasped my shoulder gently.

I gave it some thought then finally nodded. "Thanks Breaker…I owe you one," I stood then nearly jumped 6 feet in the air when I turned around to see Snake Eyes and the others. General Hawk was here as well and I stood at attention, as did Breaker.

"At ease you two…" he told us with a small smile on his face, then he turned his attention to me. "I was very pleased to see your results, there outstanding….scored in the top ten, just below Duke," he said as he looked at my files. "Attitude could be worked on as well as a codename for you, but everything else seems to be in order…welcome to the team Jade," I smiled and shook his hand, the others patted me on the back and gave a proper welcome. I he couldn't believe that I actually passed and made it onto Team Alpha.

.~:*:~.

After everyone congratulated me and threw a small party with just drinks, I headed back to my room until Breaker called me on the intercom in my room. "Yeah breaker?" I asked as I rubbed the back of my neck tiredly, leaning against the wall near the intercom.

"Hey Jade, I know I said you could take the rest of the night off, but could you go check something out for me in Sector 8?" he asked as he typed a few things into the computer and he looked up at the screen at me.

I groaned and went over to my small weapons cabinet to get a hand gun. "Alright..." I said then grabbed an ear-com on my way out of the room, this way we could still talk to each other. About half way there, I looked up at one of the cameras. "Are you sure there's something there? It could just be a glitch," I told him tiredly through the com-link in my ear, looking up at a camera.

He looked at me through the screen. "I'm not a hundred percent sure but I'm pretty sure the G.I. Joe main frame doesn't have any computer glitches…since I am the one who designed and built it," he said proudly and did another system scan. I sighed and continued to the Sector.

When I got there, I looked around but didn't see anyone or anything. Little to my knowledge, a shadow stood perfectly still as I entered the room.

It wasn't his job to kill anyone on this mission, though there was a certain someone he'd like to take a shot at, and he didn't kill a woman even if she was holding a weapon. He waited and hoped that she would pass.

"Breaker, I don't see anyone down here, the computer must have a glitch in it…" I told him as I looked up at the camera, tired and bored. "Maybe your just getting paranoid or something,"I rubbed my eyes then yawned as I headed out of the Sector, back the way I came.

The man in the shadows gave a small sigh of relief, but he still stayed still as he watched the woman in front of him and hoped that she would soon be leaving. He took a step forwards and bumped into a few barrels the one fell over, he quickly backed up.

Hearing the noise behind me, I stopped and turned half way, looking over in the direction of which the noise came from. "Hold on a minute Breaker…I think there is someone down here," I told him as I slowly moved towards the barrels, hand gun at the ready. A blur of white rushed forwards and caught me off guard but I was quick on my toes and moved out of the way, quickly giving chase too the intruder. "Breaker, sound the alarms we have a breach," I yelled into the intercom as I ran after the man.

Breaker typed a few things into the computers and got on the intercom as all the lights and alarms went off. "Intruder alert, this is not a drill…I repeat this is not a drill!...Intruder alert in Sector 8," he said quickly. The Alpha team quickly got there things and ran to go find out what was going on. "Scarlet…you guys….Jade's in pursuit of the intruder near Sector 8 but is now heading for Sectors 11 and 12,"he told his comrades as he saw them racing to my location.

The man had to rid himself of me or he would never be able to escape. "STOP!" I yelled after him, getting my my gun ready but the man suddenly turned a corner and pulled his sword out. I rounded the corner after him and didn't suspect the next thing. The man ran his sword into my chest, near the right shoulder, just nicking a lung and my esophagus. I looked down at the blade and dropped my hand gun. He quickly pulled the blade out, starring at me for a few moments, sorry look in his eyes then kept running as I fell to my knees.

I put my hand near the wound and pulled away, just looking at the blood on my hand and fingers. "Stop…." I said weakly, choking and coughing up blood. It was getting hard to breath as I just looked at my hand, falling against the wall. The last thing I heard was several sets of boots and saw was the light from the hallway as well as Snake and Scarlet leaning over me, the others giving chase to the intruder.

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**Can you guys guess who the intruder is?...I guess you probably could, somewhat made it a bit obvious. Oh, well. I hope you all like this re-edit and again, I'm really sorry that this took so long. Hopefully I will have a 3 chapter coming up somewhere if I don't have a lot of college work to do. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, and please, review. If I get enough new ones, I may update sooner =^.^=**


	3. Intruder Part 2

**Hey guys! Omen here. Okay, so like OMG, it has been forever in a day since the last time I updated this story. BUT DO NOT FEAR! I have not forgot this story...my muse is just not what it use to be. Work and raising a puppy is so hard T^T (****that's and uber sad face btw) But here is a wonderful new chapter, edited and rightfully approved by the wonderful, Shakaka.**

**As usual, here is the disclaimer :)**

**I don't own any part of G.I. Joe or any of its characters...but if I did, Snake Eyes would be helping me write this. I do own any Oc's or random people or things in the story.**

**Thoughts will be in **_Italic and underlined__..._**and Sign Language and things written on paper will be in **_**Bold and Italic.**_

* * *

**~Normal POV~**

Snake Eyes sat in his room, meditating with incense and candles burning on a small table to his left, to help calm his mind and body. As he sat there, inhaling the scent of forest from the incense and river water from the candles, he thought about a few upcoming missions, trying to develop a few tactical plans that might help the team. Should he go in low under the radar? Maybe a frontal attack to take out any, or all, guards in his way? He had so much on his mind that he was having a hard time deciding what to do, so he guessed he would just have to see what everything looked like when the time came, and choose accordingly.

Shaking his head, Snake Eyes broke from his calming trance and looked around his room, trying to think if there was anything else he needed to do. Seeing that there wasn't much—having a day off from training students and no missions for the day did that—and the team were doing their own things since it was close to bedtime, he sighed, stretched his arms and legs out, and then stood. Continuing his stretches, he did a few first-rate simple yoga moves, and once his body was completely supple, he walked over to the small-yet-furnished kitchen to make some mint herbal tea with fresh mint from a small herb garden on the counter.

"_I wonder if Jade is still up to do some sparring? Maybe even some late night training?_" he wondered to himself as he put a kettle under the faucet to fill with water, feeling jittery with the want to train with someone. He knew that Scarlet was in her room for the night, probably reading in her bed or brushing up on different weapons and what they did—which made sense, considering she was the weapons specialist.

Sighing quietly, Snake Eyes moved toward the stove, setting the kettle on a burner and turning it on. Just as he did, however, the alarms blared overhead, carrying throughout the base as Breaker yelled through the intercom system. Setting the kettle aside and turning off the burner, he flew out of his room, grabbing his swords on his way. Running down the hallway, he saw Scarlet up ahead, sprinting down another corridor, as he tried to catch up with them. Increasing his speed, he managed to reach her before she got too far, and glanced at Scarlet as they ran; wondering what was going on and wanting to know. He could hear Heavy Duty, Duke, and Ripcord somewhere behind them.

"Jade spotted an intruder and gave chase. She's in pursuit now, and we're trying to reach her. Breaker has been using the security cameras to follow her," Scarlet said as they kept running down several more hallways and stairs.

The two of them eventually saw Jade up ahead, maybe a few yards down the hall from where they were. Snake Eyes spotted the figure ahead of her, knowing that only one person could have gotten in the base without detection up to now. Pushing those thoughts out of his head, he focused on the task at hand, trying to catch up to Jade to help confine the intruder.

After running a few more feet, closing some distance between him and Jade, he saw her turn a corner and sprint down a hall. Picking up their speed again, Snake Eyes and Scarlet tried their best to catch up to her, not wanting to lose sight of Jade...but they didn't expect what happened next. Reaching the hallway, Snake Eyes hesitated and froze, nearly colliding into Scarlet, as the time slowed down and hit him full force. The intruder before them gracefully spun around and, thrusting forward, cunningly slid a sai between Jade's ribs. Snake Eyes could hear the boys and Scarlet yelling behind him, but it sounded muffled as he watched the intruder disappear down the hall and round another corner with Heavy Duty, Duke and Ripcord in hot pursuit. Scarlet meanwhile had stopped by Jade and Snake Eyes slowed down with her.

"JADE!" Scarlet yelled, spotting the sketchy smears of blood on the floor and walls. Jade was sprawled on the ground, clutching her chest as she mumbled incoherently. Scarlet kept repeating her name as she knelt by her, checking her pulse, smoothing back her hair. She tapped Jade's cheek and spoke quietly to keep Jade's attention.

Snake Eyes ran over and knelt down at Jade's side, applying pressure to the wound. Scarlet was murmuring quietly to Breaker through an earpiece, demanding for the medics as well as Doc, before she turned back to Jade, resuming the quiet orders to pay attention and stay awake. Breaker obviously had already called the medics when he saw the attack happen moments ago through one of the cameras, so help wouldn't be too far away. Snake kept his hands to her chest, trying to slow the bleeding as Jade's eyes finally closed, Scarlet's voice raising in volume as she continued talking.

Doc and the medics arrived promptly, taking over and effectively stealing his spot as latex gloves replaced his hands.

"Snake, go. Catch up with the boys, help them. I'll stay with Jade." Scarlet ordered, snapping more forcefully when Snake Eyes didn't move. Nodding, the black-clad ninja stood to leave. Taking one last look at Jade, he moved off down the hallway like a bullet. Though the boys were farther up ahead, he kept running, rage and sadness fueling him as he sped through the halls. "_Why did this have to happen? She's still new, she wasn't ready for this!"_ he thought furiously.

Finally, as he caught up with the three men, he saw that they had cornered the intruder. Slowing down, he stood next to Duke, the three of them pointing their pistols at the intruder's back. After taking a closer look at the man now that he could see him better, Snake Eyes felt his eyes widen as his earlier suspicions about the intruder's identity were confirmed. "_It isn't possible, he's dead... I killed him myself__!_"

Before him stood none other than Storm Shadow, his sword brother in the flesh.

Storm Shadow turned then, unsheathing a katana and sai as he stared straight at Snake Eyes. Looking down to his sai, Snake Eyes saw it stained with fresh blood. Jade's blood.

"Hello again, brother." Storm Shadow drawled haughtily. "Surprised to see me?" He had a smirk on his face as he spoke. Snake Eyes tensed slightly, both out of shock that he was here and because the person who had hurt Jade and possibly killed her, stood before him now, acting like it didn't even happen. "Sorry for your friend...but even you should understand, brother, that I couldn't just let you all catch me this easily." His voice was hiding something, as though he knew of a plan that would help him escape, but Snake Eyes wasn't prepared to let him go. Not easily, at least.

Darting forwards, Snake Eyes drew his swords, ignoring Duke and Heavy Duty's attempts to slow him down. Storm threw a smoke bomb to the floor, but Snake Eyes' visor allowed him to spot the heat signature from Storm Shadow's body through the thick cloud of smoke. Jumping before of him, their swords clashed, loud metallic clangs echoing through the air. While the two ninjas fought, Snake Eyes tried to ignore the others' coughing fits and yells for him as they tried to find him in the smoke-filled room.

Leaning back, Snake Eyes dodged the end of Storm's katana, which narrowly missed his neck. Shifting, he spun around and struck out at his fellow sword brother, trying to wound him, but Storm tracked his movements with ease, blocking his attack. Snarling, he shoved him back with his sword, twirling it in his hand as he stared at Storm, the smoke slowly evaporating away.

"I wonder how your little friend is doing. Dying perhaps?" Storm taunted him, trying to craft his anger to threaten his downfall. To make him slip so he could cut off his head. "Probably suffering terribly..." he faded off and spun, lunging out a few kicks aimed at Snake's sides, only to be blocked and re-countered with a sword. "Trust me, brother, you won't get me this time." He smirked behind his white mask as their swords clashed, both of them pushing against each other to get the upper hand. What Storm didn't know was that since the smoke was dissipating, Duke and the others were sneaking up behind him.

Just as Duke was preparing to knock Storm on the head with the butt of his pistol, the white-clad ninja saw spotted reflection in Snake's visor and kicked back, hitting Duke in the chest and sending him to the ground. He moved away from Snake with a few back flips, swords at the ready as he took up another stance.

"Perhaps we are to finish this later, Snake Eyes." He spat with disdain, throwing down a small flash bomb, effectively blinding the four men as he made his getaway through the ventilation shaft where a repelling cable awaited him.

The men turned away from the light, shielding their eyes for protection, and when the light dissipated, they looked back to find nothing.

"DAMN IT!" Duke yelled in frustration, striking at a crate against the wall.

"Calm down, man. He was more prepared than us. We'll get him next time. "Rip soothed, trying to calm his buddy down, to no avail.

"He's right, Duke. All we can do now is to try and figure out why he was here to begin with, and to see if Jade is alright," Heavy said, placing a large hand over the soldier's shoulder to stop him from pacing. "Snake..." he looked over to where the ninja had been standing, but paused when the person he was addressing was found to no longer be there. "Come on, let's report to the General, then see about Jade, hm?" he suggested lightly, receiving a nod from Duke and Rip, who followed Heavy back the way they had come.

.~:*:~.

Snake had heard Duke raging from the fact that Storm got away, but he was too concerned about Jade's health status, so he slipped out of the room and sheathed his sword. Heavy and the others could report to Hawk while he went to go check on his friend. _This shouldn't have happened. Storm is supposed to be dead__!_ Guilt slowly began to settle in the recesses of his mind, that if Storm was dead, Jade wouldn't practically be on her death bed right now.

Through the short time Jade had been at the Pit, her and Snake had become good friends and great sparring partners, only because she could hold her own for more than five minutes, unlike the other soldiers he trained. But what bothered him the most was seeing someone who was so confident, carefree and brave, become so broken and weak.

Picking up his pace, he quickly made his way to the infirmary, though upon entry he saw Scarlet sitting a chair, staring at the blood on her hands with a solemn look. Walking over, she lifted her head to look at him.

"_**How is she? Is she going to make it?" **_he signed quickly as she stood to meet him.

"She's been rushed back to surgery. Doc said that she lost a lot of blood, but her injuries, he wouldn't know the extent of the damage until he got her into surgery..." she whispered, pausing to take a breath and calm herself. "How could this have happened? I thought Storm was dead?" she asked, looking up into the ninja's visor, only to see a shake of his head.

"_**I don't know...but all we can do know is wait and see what Hawk wants us to do," **_he tilted his head to the side a little, looking down at the red head. _**"Go**__**. W**__**ash up and rest, I'll stay and wait."**_

She shook her head, not wanting to leave. "I'm fine..." she looked over towards the doors leading to the surgical rooms.

Snake put and hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. Hearing her sigh, she looked back at him and nodded a little.

"Fine. I'll go, but promise you'll notify me of any changes," she received a nod as his answer. Smiling a little, she walked out of the infirmary to go wash up and rest. She didn't like the fact that she was going to leave Jade, but Snake was there so she supposed it would be good that someone from the team was around.

Snake sighed and sat down, knowing he had a long night ahead of him waiting for news of Jade, the youngest of the team. A friend who shouldn't have been in that room.

* * *

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**Leave a review for me. I would love to hear if I still have my muse for some of you readers and to see if I did well on this chapter for being away for so long.**

**Thank you.**


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